magzteel writes: The Securities and Exchange Commission—an 84-year-old agency not known for its digital communications savvy—on Wednesday launched a website that touts a fake initial coin offering, an unregulated way of raising funds that has raised over $12 billion. The SEC says many ICOs are probably fraudulent, with bad guys evading investor protections and selling digital tokens that turn out to be worthless for the buyers.

The SEC’s fake token, “HoweyCoin,” plays up many of the features of ICOs that regulators say are red flags, including celebrity endorsements and guaranteed returns on investment. The mock token sale includes a “white paper” to explain the fake project, which is styled as a partnership with the travel industry. HoweyCoin will be the “coin of the realm” for travel, the paper says.